Russian Beggar I

Ernst Barlach (Wedel/Holst. 1870 - Rostock 1938)

Model from 1907, made after 1953. Bronze, brown patinated. H. 14 x 31 x 14.5 cm. Signed E. Barlach, foundry stamp H.NOACK-BERLIN. Seated, hooded figure leaning heavily forward, his left hand stretched forward in supplication. Since his trip to Russia in 1906, which marked an artistic turning point in Barlach's life, beggars have been one of his best-known figure types, which he initially executed in the already familiar stoneware and later also in bronze. 'He did not understand them exclusively as socially disadvantaged people, but as an expression of the inadequacy of human existence' (Laur II, p. 41) - Literature: Cat. rais. Laur II, No. 117 (Laur names a total of 25 copies, of which three are unnumbered lifetime castings from 1933-1934, three numbered castings from 1947-1953 and 19 unnumbered castings since 1953) - German sculptor, writer and illustrator. B. studied 1888-95 at the Hamburg Kunstgewerbeschule and at the Dresden academy. He lived in Paris for two years before working as ceramicist in Hamburg, among others for the Altona manufactory Mutz. A journey to Russia became distinctive for his work. He first exhibited sculptures from Russian folk life at the Berlin secession in 1907. Subsequently he received many important public commissions. B. was very much pressurized by the Nazis, a. many of his works were seized or destroyed. Today he is appreciated as one of the most important sculptors of the 20th cent. Mus.: Hamburg (Ernst Barlach Haus), Nuremberg (Germanisches Nationalmuseum), Schwerin a. others. Lit.: Schult (cat. rais.) a. others.